Managing User Licenses

User licenses determine whether a user can access the platform and what level of functionality is available to them. Correctly managing licenses ensures that your organisation remains compliant with the number of Business and Collaborator Licenses purchased.

This article explains:

• The types of licenses available in Fluid

• How licenses are counted

• How to manage licenses on the user record

• How licenses are controlled when using SCIM/Active Directory groups

There are three types of licenses in Fluid:

• Full access to all licensed features and roles in Fluid.

• Can log in and interact with the platform without restrictions.

• Counts towards the contracted Business License allocation.
  

• Can log in to Fluid but with restricted access.

• Limited to three roles:

  • Project Access

  • Timesheet Exempt (collaborators are set up as timesheet exempt by default, but this can be changed to allow them to submit timesheets)

  • User

• Counts towards the contracted Collaborator License allocation.

👉 You can read more about Collaborators in this article.

• Used where a record must exist in Fluid for purposes such as allocations or reporting, but the person should not be able to log in.

• Has no login access (no user record is created).

• Exists in Fluid only as a resource record, meaning their details (e.g. name, role, department, capacity, rate card, etc.) can still be used for planning, allocation, or reporting.

• Does not count towards licensed allocations.

Note on Resource vs User Records:
In Fluid, every individual is represented by a resource record. When a person is given a license - whether a full Licensed User or a Collaborator - they also gain a user record. This user record determines their login access and the specific roles they can perform within the application. In other words, licensed or collaborator users are both resource records and user records, allowing them to log in and have a range of roles based on their license type.

By contrast, an Unlicensed User remains solely a resource record without any user roles, meaning they cannot log in but still retain important resource details.

• A Licensed User is any account provisioned with either a Business License or a Collaborator License.

• Counting is based on the license flag on the user record, not whether the user is marked active, inactive, or locked.

• A Monthly Licensed User (MLU) is any account with a Business or Collaborator License flag set at any point during a calendar month.

• This means:

  • If a user is deactivated but still has a Business or Collaborator License flag, they continue to count as licensed.

  • To stop a deactivated user from being counted, their license must be updated to Unlicensed.

  • Capacity settings do not affect licensing - even if a user’s capacity is set to zero, they will still count as licensed if their license flag is set to Business or Collaborator.

Licenses can be managed in two ways:

• If you do not use AD/SCIM, you can manage license types directly in Fluid via the User Administration Console.

• Update the license field on the user record to assign or remove a license.

• By default, new users provisioned via SCIM are created as Unlicensed.

• To grant them a license, assign the user to the appropriate Active Directory group linked to the Fluid enterprise application:

• These groups must be created in AD.

• Adding a user to a group automatically sets the license type in Fluid.

• Regularly Review Usage: Review user records and license allocations on a regular basis to ensure you stay within your contracted limits.

• Always Update Deactivated Users: Ensure that when a user is deactivated, their license type is changed to Unlicensed so they no longer count against your license allocation.

• Capacity Does Not Affect License Count: Even if a user’s capacity is set to zero, if their user record is marked as Licensed or Collaborator, they will still count as a licensed user. Always adjust the license type if you want to reduce your license usage.

• Be Aware of Retrospective Reviews: Remember that license usage may be retrospectively reviewed, and overages can be invoiced.